


Magic

by RainbowSerenity



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Just really cute, Marriage, Wedding Fluff, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-28
Updated: 2018-03-28
Packaged: 2019-04-14 06:04:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,339
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14129658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowSerenity/pseuds/RainbowSerenity
Summary: Hope and Light have a quiet moment together before they finally tie the knot, all while keeping up with tradition. They're just that perfect, right?





	Magic

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this like four years ago lmao
> 
> It's one of my favorites though, which is why I'm sticking it up here~

Someone must had captured all of the butterflies in the area and magically transported them into his stomach - Hope figured that was definitely the most logical explanation since it wouldn’t stop fluttering. When he said as much to Snow, however, the big lug just laughed and playfully whacked him on the back.

“ _That_ , my friend, is called nerves!”

But that didn’t make any sense. Why should he be nervous? He was only going to…

…marry Lightning.

Hope cleared his throat for the billionth time that day and adjusted his tie. “Were you nervous when you married Serah?”

“Oh, yeah, without a doubt.” Snow tugged on the coat of his suit, laughing at how pale Hope’s face had gone. “But y'know, it’s worth it. It’s all crazy and nerve-wracking and weird, but it all makes sense eventually.”

“How?”

“When the bride comes into view. It’s…kind of like magic, honestly.”

Hope managed a strangled little laugh. “I guess that makes sense.”

Honestly, he had no idea why he was so nervous. He and Lightning had been together for years now and they’d both discussed this over and over. It was a big step, but the next step - the _right_ one.

Therefore, he shouldn’t have been so nervous. Right?

“I think what Snow’s trying to say,” Noel interrupted, “is that…well, this is what you’ve always wanted, right? To be with Lightning forever?”

“Yeah.” Hope cleared his throat, answering more confidently. “…Yes.”

“So this is just one day out of the many to come.” He smiled confidently. “This just happens to be the day where you vow to keep that promise. No biggie.”

“…Yeah. Yeah,” Hope echoed, nodding a bunch of times. Noel’s words made a lot of sense to him and calmed his nerves down somewhat, but it didn’t do much much for how jittery he was feeling. “You’re right.” He suddenly chuckled. “I wonder if Lightning’s nervous at all.”

Before either of the other two could answer, there was a knock at the door and a familiar face peeked in. “Anyone in here?”

“Serah!” Snow grinned and made his way to the door to let her in, leaning down for a hello smooch, but she flicked his lips away with a smile.

“Can’t let you ruin my lipstick,” she explained with a laugh.

“Aw, all right.” Snow grinned again. “What’re you doing over here? Making sure we’re not goofing off?”

“That, and…” She looked at Hope. “Lightning wants to talk to you.”

Hope raised his eyebrows in surprise. They’d been going along with the old tradition of the groom not seeing his bride twenty-four hours before the ceremony. It’d been mostly at Serah’s insistence, and Lightning had had little reason to say no - the ceremony was being held at a gorgeous hotel, and it’d been easy enough for them to get separate rooms to avoid accidentally seeing each other until the time came.

Even so, he couldn’t help the excitement the fluttered in his stomach. Twenty-four hours wasn’t that long when you were counting down the time to your wedding, but it  _was_ a long time to go without seeing the love of your life.

“Um, yeah,” he finally replied with a nod. “I’d love to talk to her.”

“Great!” Serah hiked up her maid of honor dress and looped her arm through Hope’s, winking at Snow and Noel. “We’ll be right back, okay?”

“Gotcha.” Noel seemed amused, probably at Serah leading around someone a head taller than her.

They walked down the hallway to a room about ten doors away. Serah stopped in front of one - the room she was sharing with Lightning, presumably - and faced him. “Wait right here.”

Before he could reply, she’d already snuck inside, only letting the door open a crack. Vaguely, he could hear Fang and Vanille’s voices and smiled to himself. Fang had been dragged into being a bridesmaid, but since neither he nor Lightning knew any girls young enough for the job, Vanille had volunteered to be the flower girl and was going to walk next to Dajh, who was the ring bearer.

A minute later - a minute in which he repeatedly had to wipe his sweaty palms on his pants - the door opened enough for Serah to poke her head out and beckoned him closer. “Over here.”

He obeyed, but not without question. “What’s going on?”

“I said you could talk to her, not _see_ her.”

Before he could ask what the heck she meant by that, Serah had vanished and a very familiar hand stuck out of the barely-open door. Hope’s heart thudded a little more quickly when he noticed the flash of white visible in the sliver of the open door and realized Lightning was hiding behind it. They’d only be separated by a couple of inches, but they wouldn’t break tradition.

“Hope?”

He smiled and reached for her hand, the two of them desperately twining their fingers together. “I’m here.”

“Finally, someone sane,” she murmured, and he couldn’t help but laugh. It was _so_ great to hear her voice, even though they’d be seeing each other soon enough at the altar.

“Is Serah driving you crazy?”

“Completely. She’s taking her maid of honor duties way too seriously.” She let out an indignant huff. “She kept ordering room service and feeding me last night, because the last time I tried on my dress, it was a little loose. And since it’s way too late to get it altered, I guess she figured she’d alter _me_ instead.”

Hope laughed again, squeezing her fingers. “And here I thought most brides complained about wanting to _lose_ weight before their weddings.”

“Yeah, well.” He could practically hear her smile. “Nothing’s ever been all that normal for us, has it?”

“That’s for sure.” Hope gently leaned his head against the door and closed his eyes. Despite the fact that he was in a tux, that they were conversing about wedding things, and that he was talking to her through a door because of some old tradition, it still boggled his mind that soon, they were going to be _married_.

How had he ever gotten so lucky?

“Light?”

“Yes?” She sounded breathless and maybe a little nervous.

“I’m really glad we’re getting married.” Truer words had never left his lips, except, of course, whenever he told her that he loved her.

There was a long pause, but he knew she’d heard because her fingers tightened around his. “I am too,” she finally replied.

Just then, the door opened another notch and Fang’s head poked out. “All right, all right, save the sweet talk for down the aisle, ya hear? We’ve gotta finish - ” she jerked her head in what was probably Lightning’s direction, “ - gettin’ this one all set! You’ll see her soon, yeah?”

“…Yeah.” Hope gave her hand a final little squeeze before letting go and echoed Fang’s words. “I’ll see you soon, Light.”

“Not soon enough,” was her answer, though it sounded less romantic than what was probably the intention. He guess that Serah or Vanille had dragged her away to touch up her makeup or something.

Fang winked and shut the door, leaving Hope to walk back to Snow and Noel. Those two didn’t leave his side and were right there when it finally came time for the ceremony to begin.

The walk down the aisle seemed much longer than it had during the rehearsals, but he still made it. Everything about the procession seemed longer, somehow - maybe because he was waiting for one person.

And when Serah finally made her way down the aisle and took her place, he knew it was time for _her._

His stomach was still fluttering with butterflies, but he wasn’t that nervous anymore. He realized that Snow had been right.

The moment Lightning appeared, looking as gorgeous as he’d ever seen her in a long, white gown, flowers in her hair, a veil trailing behind her, and a loving little smile that shot right through his heart, there was only one way to describe it.

Pure magic.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on [tumblr](http://rainbowserenity.tumblr.com), come say hi~


End file.
